More than 100 people gathered at the Threatt Filling Station to see the new tall, brightly colored Route 66 sign denoting this place’s significance in the history of the Mother Road. Oklahoma Route 66 Association President Reece Martin told the crowd about his first trip on Route 66 as a photographer.
“I pulled over and took a picture of this building and wondered what this was,” Martin said. “And now we are on the precipice of so many more people traveling Route 66 for the centennial next year that are going to go through the same experience. They’re going to pull over here, but they’re going to be able to learn the entire story.”
Martin said the Threatt Filling Station shows traveling Route 66 isn’t just a long joy ride.
“It’s more than just milkshakes and Cadillacs — those are both very fun by the way. But there’s history to it. And it’s real authentic stories of people,” Martin said.
The story of this particular stop is an important one. It was the first Black-owned filling station on Route 66. And Edward Threatt Sr. knows all about it, from the original 1915 wood building burning down to its ongoing renovation and upcoming interpretive center today.
“Grandpa rebuilt this. They started it in 1933,” Threatt said. “The building was actually finished in 1939.”
He’s the former mayor of Luther and the grandson of Allen Threatt Sr., who established what was a gas station and so much more.
“Back in the Jim Crow era, it was very important that people knew that they had a place that they could come, they could stop, and they could be safe,” Threatt said. “This was basically a safe haven for people of color.”
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of fun to be had here.
“The building next door was a bar. My dad used to sell barbecue ribs over there,” Threatt said. “So people could drink their libation of choice, get a little tipsy… and not have to travel down the road. Because people of color, during that time, if you got caught, you could be disappeared.”
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of Route 66. It’s part of the reason the Threatt Station monument is going up now. It’s the eighth to be installed at important stops for the Route 66 Centennial Monument project. Ten more are planned in the coming months from Illinois to California, and dozens more are in the works. Brian Brown is the project’s director.
“It’s hard to believe that there is not common iconography that people can look toward across the route,” Brown said. “So this would be the first common monument that goes from one end of Route 66 to the other.”
A news release from monument organizers says once complete, the project will be among the largest art installations in the nation’s history. And Brown says QR codes on each monument will allow travelers to more fully understand the history of America’s Main Street.
“So we’re doing two things,” Brown said. “We’re putting monuments in that are beautiful place-making monuments that cause people to stop and get a selfie. But we’re also connecting them to history.”
Edward Threatt Sr. is excited about the overall project, but particularly about the immortalization of this filling station, and his family’s legacy.
StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.
